84 | APRIL 14 • 2022 

AN AMBULANCE AND A 
HEDGEHOG; MINI-SERIES 
HERO IS JEWISH; MIRIAM 
IN A TUB —WHAT?
Two big-budget films with a 
“Jewish connection” opened 
“wide” last week and are still 
in theaters: Ambulance, an 
action-thriller, and Sonic: The 
Hedgehog 2, a combination 
animation and live-action 
film that is appropriate for 
“children of all ages.” 
Here’s the capsule plot of 
Ambulance: William Sharp, 
an African American war 
vet, needs $231K for his 
wife’s surgery. He turns 
to his adoptive brother 
Danny (Jake Gyllenhaal, 
41), a career criminal. Their 
attempt to rob a bank goes 
wrong — they shoot a police 
officer and flee in an ambu-
lance carrying the wound-
ed police officer and an EMT. 
In a recent Esquire inter-
view, Gyllenhaal said it was 
time for him to do some 
big action movies again — 
and that’s the type of films 
that Ambulance director 
Michael Bay, 57, makes 
(Transformers, Pearl Harbor). 
The first Sonic The 
Hedgehog film (2020) was 
based on a popular video 
game of the same name. It 

was a huge box-office office 
hit despite getting mixed 
reviews (story not so great; 
cast very good). The title 
character is a “humanized” 
blue hedgehog who can 
travel at supersonic speed. 
He’s a good guy who wants 
to help people. Sonic is ani-
mated in the original and in 
the sequel.
Ben Schwartz, 40, voiced 
Sonic in both Sonic flicks. 
Schwartz has had many film 
and TV roles, but it hard to 
cite a role everyone knows. 
I best remember him in 
his recurring role as Jean-
Ralphio Saperstein (what a 
name!) on Parks and Rec. 
Henry Winkler played his 
father, a doctor, and Jenny 
Slate played his crazy sister, 
Mona-Lisa Saperstein. 
Reprising their original 
Sonic film roles are Jim 
Carrey (as Sonic’s arch 
enemy) and James Marsden 
(as a sheriff who is a friend 
of Sonic). 
Adam Pally, 40, makes 
his Sonic debut in Sonic 2. 
He plays a deputy sheriff 
who serves under Marsden’s 
character. Pally is a real-life 
pal of Schwartz. The two 
have long been in a three-
man comedy improv troupe 
that performs on stage now 
and again.

MINI-SERIES HERO
The six-part, NBC true-crime 
series The Thing About 
Pam concluded on April 
14 (binge it on Peacock or 
Hulu). Reviews were mixed, 
but the true story was so 
weird that the series held 
my attention. As I previously 
wrote, the title character 
(played by Renee Zellweger) 
murdered a close female 
friend and attempted to 
frame her friend’s husband 

(Russ Farina) for the mur-
der. Gideon Adlon, 25, has 
a supporting role as the 
Farinas’ daughter.
 I noticed that Pam and the 
Farinas lived in a St. Louis 
suburb and Joel Schwartz, 
now 60, was the defense 
attorney who represented 
Farina at his two murder tri-
als. I contacted the St. Louis 
Jewish Light, a paper that I 
write for, and asked the edi-
tor if he knew Schwartz to 
be Jewish. The editor then 
“reached out” to Schwartz, 
who confirmed he is Jewish.
Schwartz (played by Josh 
Duhamel) is the hero of the 
series. He is a super-compe-
tent, super-ethical defense 
attorney who did everything 
humanly possible to uncover 
the evidence that ultimately 
proved Farina was com-
pletely innocent.
 In a brief interview with 
the Light, Schwartz said that 
he and Duhamel became 
friends during the series’ 
filming. They have much 
in common, he said. Both 
are musical and enjoy act-
ing. Schwartz said he and 
his band played many bar 
mitzvahs when he was a 
teenager, and he has long 
“dabbled” in amateur acting 
roles. His first role, he said, 
was acting with his dad in a 

play put on at the St. Louis 
JCC. 
Every year, around 
Pesach, ABC airs The Ten 
Commandments, the 1956 
blockbuster about the life 
of Moses and the Israelites 
flight from Egypt. This year 
it will be shown on April 17, 
starting at 7 p.m.
In a March column, I said 
I was recently contacted 
by Cantor Riselle Babette 
Bain, 74, who played “Young 
Miriam” in the film. I just con-
cluded a long interview with 
Bain and her life story is truly 
amazing — and “celebrity 
laden.” Just too much “good 
stuff” to relate in this week’s 
column.
But do watch The Ten 
Commandments and look 
for Bain in the scene in 
which Young Miriam steps 
into the Nile River and puts 
the basket holding the baby 
Moses into the river. Actually, 
Bain told me, she wasn’t in 
a river. She was in a big tub 
filled with warm water. 
In the film, it seems like 
Miriam is looking out on the 
Nile. But Bain wasn’t really 
doing that. It was a special 
effect. She was actually look-
ing at director Cecil DeMille, 
who told her exactly what do 
(facial expressions, etc.) 

CELEBRITY NEWS

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

ARTS&LIFE

IMDB

Adam 
Pally

BY TOGLENN

Jake Gyllenhaal

Riselle 
Babette Bain

